A conventional butt hinge for hanging a door from a door framework or jamb has two flat rectangular leaf portions or plates joined in pivotal side-by-side relationship by a pin or pintle inserted up to a head into a central bore of a barrel defined by vertically aligned, interdigitated knuckles or barrel portions which are spaced along adjacent vertical edges of the leaves. One leaf is attached at a recess formed in an edge of the door; the other leaf is attached at a recess formed in an adjacent confronting position on the jamb. The leaves are placed so that they meet and butt together when the door is closed to bring the door edge into contact with the jamb. The recesses act to conceal opposite vertical edges of the leaves, as well as a majority of their back faces and upper and lower horizontal edges. Approximately one-quarter of each leaf portion in a region near the barrel (including parts of the back face and upper and lower edges) sticks out of the associated recess.
When a door is painted, and especially when it is spray painted, it is desirable to protect the butt hinge from paint by applying a covering tape or similar paint masking material. The exposed portions of the hinge to be covered are those that are not concealed within the door edge and jamb recesses The exposed surfaces are the entire front faces of the leaves, the top of the pin, all of the barrel, and those parts of the back faces and upper and lower edges of the leaves that are not protected by the recesses
It is difficult to tear or cut out pieces of masking tape to obtain just the right coverage of the exposed hinge surfaces. If too much tape is applied, areas which should be painted are missed; if too little is applied, paint gets on the hinge. One time consuming alternative to masking is to avoid getting paint on the hinges by carefully painting around them. Another, labor intensive, approach is to take off the hinges completely after removing the door from the jamb.
Preconfigured butt hinge paint masks exist but are inadequate. Examples of such masks are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,961,602; 4,195,590; 4,691,409; and 4,796,330. Desirable objectives for any butt hinge paint mask are that it be inexpensive, be able to be quickly and readily applied, afford complete matching coverage to shield all exposed surfaces, and be usable with only minimum interference with normal operation of the hung door.
The '602, '590 and '330 masks are flexible members that have pressure sensitive adhesive coatings and are preshaped to be applied over exposed parts of the hinge. The '602 and '590 masks are applied with the door removed from the jamb. The '602 and '590 masks are configured with a rectangular leaf covering portion and an associated adjacent barrel covering portion, dimensioned to cover the exposed front face of one leaf and the exposed cylindrical face of the barrel knuckles of one half of the hinge. Those masks are not dimensioned to cover the front and back faces of the full hinge in its assembled position, with the door attached to the jamb. Those masks also provide no coverage for the parts of the top and bottom edges of the leaves that are outside the door and jamb recesses, nor for the top and bottom surfaces of the pin and barrel.
The '330 device is applied with the door still in its operable attached position. The '330 mask consists of two monolithic parts, one of which is configured to provide full coverage of the front faces of the leaves and barrel of the assembled hinge, and the other of which is configured to cover the exposed parts of the back faces of the leaves and barrel. Though an upwardly extending tab is provided centrally in line with the top of the barrel, that tab is merely intended to serve as a finger grip for removal of the mask and not as a cover for the upper surfaces of the barrel or top of the pin, and the tab is not wide enough to cover the exposed top edge surfaces of the leaves. Also, the '330 mask makes no provision for coverage of any exposed hinge bottom surfaces Moreover, although the part of the '330 mask that covers the back surface of the leaves and barrel can be applied with the door attached to the jamb, its monolithic characteristic will cause it to distort or separate from its adhered position after application, if the door is operated in the normal manner with the mask applied.
The '409 mask comprises an elastic body that is stretched over the hinge barrel. The '409 structure is expensive, cumbersome to install, and covers only the front, back and lower surfaces of the assembled barrel.